The UIM 2010 season has been successfully completed in the United Arab Emirates where three prestigious UIM World Championship titles were awarded in Class 1, Formula 1 and XCat. 2010 has been a crucial year for the development of the sport with several important happenings which consolidated the UIM position as the world governing body for Powerboating. 75 new UIM World Champions, hundreds of international races organized by the UIM affiliated federations and the significantly improved media attention are worth to be mentioned. The Sport is standing at a crucial juncture following the full recognition by the International Olympic Committee during the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, a great step forward for the UIM which fully complied with all the requested acceptance criteria. The dream to have again Powerboating Olympic Champions, after one century from the 1908 London Olympic Games, could now become reality one day. In 2010 UIM signed an important Agreement with the United Nations Environment Program along with the synergies created with other important International Sport Federations such as FIA (Int. Car Federation), FIM (Int. Motorcycling Federation) and FAI (Int. Aero Sport Federation) in the field of Environment, Alternative Energies and Sustainable Development. In 2010 UIM has successfully organized, at the prestigious Salle des Etoiles in Monaco, the first UIM Awards Giving Gala where all the World Champions received their well deserved honour;such an extraordinary event will now be recurring every year and in 2011 it’s scheduled for the 26th of February. The 83rd UIM General Assembly held in Malta was highly productive and the sporting structure and related rules have been further improved. In 2011 the UIM General Assembly will be held at the magnificent Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The UIM President Raffaele Chiulli attended the three final events in the UAE and personally awarded the medals to the new UIM World Champions. “Sport is a fantastic medium to break barriers and bring people together and the above initiatives have done exactly this: make our Family stronger and bigger”. Stated President Chiulli after the last Price Giving. “The excitement of our Sport, of our Family doesn’t stop here. Our Family has new challenges before us and we are now consolidating the Status of several key disciplines like Class 1, Endurance, Ribs, Stock and Aquabike under the UIM umbrella. During the last days we have had successful agreements with some of our prominent Family members and we have set a path for further strengthening and building on the success of our Sport. At this moment we need action, we need commitment and moreover we need unity. I am really pleased to have done my best for the UIM and for our preferred Sport in this unforgettable year 2010.

I wish to all our passionate fans and friends and to all the people who gave their remarkable contribution to our Sport, a happy and very successful New Year”.